


The Boy & His Piano

by adoreehowell



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Musician Dan Howell, Phil loves Dan, Phil makes everything better, phil makes dan happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-16 06:46:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19641667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adoreehowell/pseuds/adoreehowell
Summary: every night, it was the same. the shouting, the door slamming, the crying, and then the piano. if only phil lester knew who the boy behind those beautiful notes truly was. || 2.7k words





	The Boy & His Piano

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of my first actual published works so please don't expect anything good because i can assure you,, this is NOT. thank you<3

-Phil-

It was already happening when Phil walked into his small apartment, that he'd moved into about two weeks prior, at 7:47pm on Friday night. He'd just gotten back from a meal that he'd been forced to attend, and he was exhausted. The only thing on his mind was sleep the whole way home, but he knew that he wouldn't be getting that anytime soon as the thin walls of the apartments once again betrayed the person in the one next to him. He sat down on his sofa, throwing his keys carelessly on the coffee table as he leaned back, not hesitating to kick his shoes off and stretch his legs across the seat. He pressed his palms to his temples, squeezing his eyes closed as if it would block out the noise. 

"I really don't get what they see in you! Someone so pathetic.."  
There was a smash of a glass,  
"So desperate.."  
a loud thud,  
"So worthless.."  
another,  
"God, you're so worthless that you barely even exist to me. How could you think I'd ever love something like.. Like you?"  
the slam of a door,  
silence,  
and then a heart wrenching sob. 

Phil shook his head, snapping his eyes open as he swung his legs off of the sofa, quickly rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. He adjusted his glasses and looked towards the wall in which he could hear through, thinking to himself. He hadn't ever heard glass smashing or thuds as loud as he heard that night, and he could have sworn he'd never heard such a heartbreaking, strangled sob in his whole life. He thought for a couple more moments before realising that the door had slammed, obviously signifying that whoever it was had left. Phil didn't think twice when he tied his shoes back up, making his way out of his apartment and down the hallway. Why hadn't he done this sooner? Why hadn't he reported anything when he first heard everything that was going on.. And why hadn't anybody else? He shook his head once more, trying not to let the guilt take over as he came face to face with his neighbours door. It had been about 10 minutes since he'd heard the door slam, but he couldn't hear much through, and for a second thought he could be at the wrong door. He was sure this was the one, and he didn't know exactly what went on in there.. His mind immediately started to think the worst; he could be hurt, and something seriously bad could have happened to him. He squeezed his eyes shut once more, trying to hold back his guilt again, before he lifted his fist to gently knock at the door.

Just as Phil was about to knock, he heard that all too familiar ping of a piano key, and he immediately felt a rush of relief run through his body. He didn't know the person, he'd never spoken to him, but something inside him made him feel so glad that he was alive, and it caused Phil to make a pledge to himself to make sure that the person behind that door knew things were going to be okay. Phil was going to be there for them, and he wasn't going to let him get hurt anymore.. Not if he could do something about it.

He thought about just leaving the person for a couple of minutes, just listening through the door to the beautiful sounds coming from the piano inside. He was no music expert, but he could tell that it was old due to the way that the notes sounded slightly out of tune. He hadn't messed up a single note, every single one was perfect and Phil knew that he could have listened to it for hours on end. The way that each chord went perfectly into the next, the melody seeming to fit together with it like a puzzle piece could have sent him to sleep right there, the beauty of it making Phil believe it should be appreciated by the entire world. He hadn't even met this boy before and he was already saying that he deserved the world..

For the thousandth time that night, he shook his head at his own thoughts, deciding that it was right to just at least try to make sure that the person behind that door was actually okay. Of course, he didn't want to stop listening to the gorgeous tune inside, but there were clearly more important things he had to worry about. Before he could put it off any longer, he softly knocked at the door 4 times.

As soon as he knocked, the music stopped, and Phil froze. What was he actually supposed to say? He hadn't planned any of this out, what was he supposed to do when the person actually opened the door? He ran another hand through his hair, messing it up and taking a deep breath. He couldn't hear anything but his own breathing as the piano stopped, and he actually contemplated running off back into his room and pretending it never happened, but then he realised that he couldn't do that, and he'd told himself that he was gonna help this person, so that was what he would do.

He stayed outside the room in silence for a couple more moments, and he was about to knock once more on the door before he was cut off by a soft, timid voice coming from the inside.   
"I-I'm sorry, please don't hurt me again.." 

Phil's heart could have broken when he heard those words come from the other side of the door, and he didn't know what to reply. He sounded so terrified, so hurt, and Phil just wanted nothing more than to reassure him that things were going to be okay. He hated to imagine what had been done to him, and he hated himself even more for not going to help sooner. He realised he'd not replied, and quietly spoke;

"I.. I promise I'm not going to hurt you.."

When Phil didn't hear a reply from the voice on the other side of the door, he noticed that he hadn't even told him who he was, and he could have face palmed right then. 

"I'm your neighbour, I live next to you.. I heard some things and, well, your crying and.. I guess I know that it's not nice to be alone when you feel like that." Phil had his face close to the door as he spoke softly, resting his hand on the door frame whilst the other hung in his pocket. He really didn't want to scare the boy off, he genuinely wanted to help him, but it was just the way he went about it that would determine whether Dan would let him or not.

There was about a minute of silence and Phil was about to sigh and try to talk again, but was cut off by the sound of the door chain sliding and a soft click from the latch. Phil stood up straight instead of staying leaned against the frame as the door was slowly opened to reveal the boy behind. His face was blotchy and red, he could clearly see the tear stains marking his face. His hair was a mess, brown curls sticking up in every direction, some pieces loosely hanging and others clumped up in clusters as if he'd pulled on them. He had a blanket wrapped around himself and his hands were slightly shaking as they held onto the side of the door. His eyes met Phil's and he almost felt his heart shatter again; they were bloodshot, and were still pooled with moisture threatening to fall at any minute. Phil just wanted to wipe away his tears and tell him everything was going to be okay.

"I know you don't know me.. I live just to the left of you." Phil added on quietly, adjusting his glasses before carrying on, "I don't know what happened, but I just want you to know that I'm here. Whether you choose to come to me or not is up to you but.. I know you could do with a friend, and I'm willing to do all I can to try and make sure everything ends up okay with you." He offered him a small smile, praying in his mind that he wasn't doing anything to make him uncomfortable.

The boy looked up at Phil with a seemingly shocked expression on his face, and it made him frown a little. He really didn't want to weird him out, he just wanted to try and befriend him. They stayed in silence for a small amount of time before he spoke up, his voice a little louder and less terrified than it was when he first spoke.

"T-Thank you, uh.." He looked at him for his name, in which he replied to with a small smile,   
"Phil."

"Thank you Phil. I.. I don't.. C-can we talk in the morning?" His voice got quiet again towards the end of his sentence, and Phil made sure to keep his smile on his face as a way to assure the boy that he was nice and wasn't going to hurt him.

"Of course we can.." He replied lightly, also hinting towards a name, in which the boy softly replied with   
"Dan."

"Yeah. Okay, that sounds good to me, just.. You can come round whenever you want, okay? You don't even have to, but I mean it may be nice.. I don't know." He rambled, chuckling lightly as he shook his head and reached his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. When he saw a small, very, very small yet still visible smile on Dan's face, all of the awkwardness he felt disappeared and he grinned at him. 

"That's good. Thank you.." He nodded to Phil, lifting his hand to give a tiny wave as he closed the door and quickly put the chain back in it's original place. Phil wasn't complaining, he'd managed to speak to him and had even managed to persuade him to come round to his apartment the next morning, and he knew that Dan was probably worried in case something else happened. Phil completely understood. The way that he'd managed to speak to him, and the thought of maybe even being able to befriend him was enough to send him into a content sleep when he got back to his bed, with the help of Dan and his piano which had started up and could be heard lightly through the walls. 

\---

Despite the fact that he was quite the opposite to a morning person, when Phil woke up at 8am on Saturday, he was more than happy to get up without a hesitation. He hoped that Dan would actually come round to his apartment, but he understood if he didn't. He knew that he probably came across as a little.. forward, when he spoke to him, but he hoped it was enough. He really did want to help Dan, and he wasn't sure if he could deal with hearing anything else that the vile man in there with him shouted. He didn't deserve it. Phil lay in bed for a while, just thinking about how sweet Dan actually seemed, and he wasn't sure what could have possibly happened to make the man say the things he did to him. He didn't seem pathetic, he didn't seem desperate, and he definitely didn't seem worthless to Phil, and it filled him with a rage that he didn't even know he had when he remembered the way that the words seemed to be spat at Dan. He just wished that he could take him out of there and keep him happy, because the smile that he'd seen last night, no matter how small it was, seemed to be absolutely perfect to Phil. His thoughts were quickly cut off by a small knock on the door, and of course, Phil knowing who it was, was quick to rush over and open it with a smile on his face.

The Dan that stood outside Phil's door seemed a lot different to the one he'd seen the night before. He'd had a shower since, which had clearly caused his hair to go all fluffy. He was dressed in full black, looking down at the floor as he fiddled with his fingers. Phil took a moment to look at him, to see how different he looked compared to the night before. The Dan that he'd seen the night before was broken, barely hanging on, but this one seemed.. Okay. It was almost like he was putting on a mask, and that hurt Phil. He didn't want him to have to hide everything behind a mask, he wanted to make it all better again.

"Dan!" He spoke with a grin, opening the door so that he could come in. "You can come in if you want. Would you like a drink? I was just about to make a hot chocolate." He said it with a smile, but he knew that he'd probably messed up. He should have been more calm with his introduction to him, and he knew that he should probably put away the grin for at least 10 seconds. He kept worrying about the way that he greeted Dan, but that was quickly wiped when he saw another smile rise upon Dan's face, this one seeming a lot brighter than the last, with a small dimple by his mouth. Phil would have thought it was adorable if he wasn't so scared about how Dan was doing. He'd clearly had a rough night, and Phil just wanted to try and make things okay.

"A hot chocolate sounds perfect.." He said quietly, looking up at Phil and giving him a polite smile, letting go of his own fingers and adding on a small, "If you don't mind, of course."

"I wouldn't have offered if I minded," Phil commented, heading to the counter and grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. He made their drinks and placed them on the coffee table, telling Dan that he could sit down and making sure he was okay before he sat down as well. 

"Thank you for letting me come round here.." Dan said, looking up and meeting Phil's eyes, "I appreciate it so much."

"Of course, you can come round here whenever. I heard what went on and just figured that you could do with somebody to speak to when you need it.." He replied gently, picking up his drink and taking a sip from it.

"Yeah.. After last night, he.. Well, he hit me for the first time, and it made me realise that I can't let it keep happening. I've dealt with it for so long by him and just.. I can't anymore, so I was gonna phone up and report him tonight, before he got back. I'm sorry I just told you all that, fuck, I just.." he said the whole thing quietly, moving back to play with his fingers again midway through. He looked down towards the end, shaking his head lightly. "I'm sorry."

Phil shook his head, putting his glass back on the table as he shuffled across on his seat, speaking softly back to Dan, "Hey, It's okay. I'm so sorry that he put you through that, but.. I promise I'm here to help you. I'll help you report him, and I'll be here whenever you need me from now on, okay?" 

Dan looked up at Phil, his smile widening slightly, making his dimple more prominent, and once again, Phil could have sworn he'd never seen anything so beautiful before.  
"Thank you so much, Phil, honestly.. I don't think I'd be able to do it on my own."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that now, because I'm here with you whether you like it or not." He grinned again, happy that Dan was actually smiling around him.

Dan shook his head, picking up the glass that Phil had made him and leaning back. "To be honest, I don't wanna worry about any of it right now, he'd not due back until around 8 tonight, and.. I seem to have spotted a certain game." He smiled softly at Phil, pointing to his Nintendo Switch where the box for Mario Kart was sticking out.

"Mario Kart?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, You're on."


End file.
